


I Choose To Love You Without Fear

by wingsofthenight



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Also have a lot of headcanons about Ellaria because she's so interesting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, But mostly fluff, Dorne, F/M, Fluff, Oberyn Martell is a Good Parent, Some hurt/comfort, but we also don't know that much about her, eventual minor Doran/Mellario, eventual minor Elia/Baelor Hightower, minor Elia/Ashara, well not yet but he'll be one soon, which sucks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:20:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28804944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingsofthenight/pseuds/wingsofthenight
Summary: Sometimes the gods choose to bless two people by binding their souls together, leaving a name on their wrist as proof.Oberyn and Ellaria are one of these pairs.They didn't choose for this to happen to them, but that does not mean they are barred from all choices- and one of them is whether to love each other or not.
Relationships: Oberyn Martell/Ellaria Sand
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12
Collections: Southern Renaissance (Dorne Renaissance)





	I Choose To Love You Without Fear

**Author's Note:**

> That summary is ridiculously sappy... so, it's pretty fitting for Oby when he gets in a mood.
> 
> Anyway, this is actually take two of trying to write a soulmate au for them! The first was sappy. Just ridiculously sappy. Like more than the summary for this is sappy. Maybe one day I'll finish that one and post it, but until then have this!
> 
> I'm not sure how long this will be, but it shouldn't be too long.
> 
> Some notes:
> 
> -Timeline don't matter because I don't care, but this would start in about April 276 AC.
> 
> -Doran isn't married, and hasn't even met Mellario yet. We will see them meet though!
> 
> -Oberyn hasn't collected his daughters yet, and only Obara is born so far. Nym and Tyene will be Ellaria's daughters, and Sarella is years away from being born and probably won't be in this fic.  
> Why is this? A few reasons! For one, I am a little concerned at how young Oby was when he had his first four kids. So Obara was born when he was 16, and Nym and Tyene are relatively easy to make Ellaria's kids, and Sarella pretty easy to justify by saying they just had a threesome.  
> Also, I wanted to explore them getting together without kids involved, so this took out two birds with one stone.
> 
> I think that's all, so enjoy the story!

It was fitting that Ellaria was visiting her own pet vipers when the name upon her wrist first appeared.

Okay, they were not technically her snakes, as they were free to come and go as they pleased. But they hung around the Hellholt and did not mind her coming to give them treats, so she considered them hers.

She had been leaning down to give Azul some treats when her left wrist suddenly started burning. Azul didn’t even react to her shocked cry, he just swallowed his treat and slithered off.

Usually Ellaria would jokingly scold her little vipers for abandoning the woman that fed them without a single care, but she was far too busy staring at her wrist in shock.

It wasn’t that having a soulmate was a foreign idea to her. A name on one’s wrist- their soulmark- showed up within three moons of the younger member of the pair’s eighteenth birthday, and hers had been not quite a moon ago.

She just had not expected it to happen… nor had she expected this kind of match.

In a daze, she pulled her sleeve back over her wrist and walked back into the Hellholt with a carefully neutral expression, heading towards the rooms of her own paternal grandmother.

The Lady Amira, formerly of House Qorgyle, had more than once been said to be more of an Uller than her husband had been- a sentiment that she very much disagreed with. As she had been an accomplished spearman in her younger years, and even now was still extremely dangerous with a weapon despite having almost reached fifty, few brought that idea up, and it was always at their peril.

Her abuela was not the warmest person in the world, but she had never once let her family doubt that she loved and appreciated them, and always supported them when the need arose.

Which was why Ellaria felt comfortable telling her what had happened before anyone else in their family.

Amira looked at the name on her wrist in surprise for several long moments before her face broke out into a satisfied smile. “My dear, I have long told you to add a red viper to your collection. Now it seems as though Mother Rhoyne has chosen one for you.”

Ellaria sighed. Why had she expected a different reaction? “Abuela, I would remind you that I do not choose what snakes arrive in our home. The lack of red snakes is not of my doing. And must I remind you that if anyone poisoned Yronwood, it would have been Princess Loreza herself? And that it is far more likely that he killed himself before he was dragged to Sunspear to stand trial for whatever he did? With that logic, there is no reason for him to be called the Red Viper.”

“You are likely correct, my dear, but the fact remains that your soulmate has a reputation, earned or not.”

Yes. Her soulmate.

The one whose name was written on her wrist in a handwriting she had never seen before- Dornish tradition held that it was Mother Rhoyne’s herself- in a dark brown color, likely the same shade of his eyes.

_Oberyn Nymeros Martell of Sunspear_

If you had told her ten years ago that she would one day be marked to a prince of Dorne, thirdborn or not, she would not have believed you. Or even if you had told her but a year ago.

This was all an honor. Mother Rhoyne did not bless all that many couples with physical marks of their souls being joined, and it was said to mean great things for the couple.

She knew this, and truly felt it was. And yet… and yet she had always thought she would have more of a choice in the course her life would take.

“I must say,” her grandmother said, cutting into her musings, “I cannot wait to see my own granddaughter be crowned as a princess.”

Ellaria rolled her eyes and didn’t even bother to hide it. “Prince Oberyn is a third son. I am the only daughter of this house. Why would I be a princess?”

“Because Prince Doran is still unmarried, and Princess Elia may well marry an heir of her own. You have already expressed a desire to allow Ulwyck to be Lord of the Hellholt, and for one of your children to succeed him if at all possible. It makes perfect sense that you would be a Princess with that logic.”

She hated it when Amira used blunt logic like that.

And even more when it was logic used to support a position she never thought would be meant for her.

“This isn’t what I expected for my life,” Ellaria admitted, briefly closing her eyes and looking out the nearest window.

Her grandmother’s face softened at that, and she took her hands. “No. It is not. But Mother Rhoyne gave you this mark for a reason. And you shall do well with it, and that is not simply me as your abuela saying this.”

* * *

Oberyn wasn’t exactly happy about all of this, but at least this whole situation was good for the shocked looks on his family’s faces.

Especially his mother and brother’s. Neither Loreza nor Doran Martell surprised easily, but neither of them had expected him to have a soulmate.

The good news was that his uncle had long been marked to Sylvia, the daughter of a well known merchant and seamstress of the Red Mountains (a match that had raised some controversy, but not much as his sister had been married for near a decade and had an heir already; besides, who was to argue with Mother Rhoyne’s will?), and was happy to speak to him of what it entailed.

Which was good because Oberyn had never particularly cared about the details, as he had never expected this to happen to him until the words _Ellaria Uller of the Hellholt_ appeared on his wrist.

(The gods were definitely laughing at him.)

At least the color the name was written in was attractive. Seemingly a simple deep brown at first glance, upon further inspection it had other shades of brown sprinkled through it, so at least his soulmate had pretty eyes and he had that much to look forward to.

Oh great, he was doing it again.

Oberyn groaned, burying his face in his hands and sinking further into the chaise he was lounging on.

He wasn’t being fair, he knew that. He had been assured multiple times that at worst a marked pair would be extremely strong friends, and that it was impossible for a bond to be formed between two incompatible people.

That did not help with the fact that he had not chosen this.

And he couldn’t even distract himself easily today, for barely three sennights after the name first appeared on his wrist, the Uller party had arrived at Sunspear. And he was very, very aware of that fact.

Dorne held to the idea that, if at all possible, the first meeting between two marked souls should be held in private.

Which meant that Oberyn was barred from greeting them in the courtyard with the rest of his family and was stuck in this solar.

Waiting.

Granted, he didn’t mind not having everyone’s eyes on him as they met for the first time. He didn’t mind that at all.

But the fact remained that he was still bored, and bored he was until his sister calmly walked in with a smile on her face. “What?”

Elia’s smile only widened. “The good news is that your soulmate is beautiful, my dear baby brother. In fact, I would be more than willing to wax poetic about her were she not your soulmate.”

Before he knew it, he was sitting up and glaring at her. “Go fuck Ashara and be romantic to her.”

“Someone’s tetchy today,” his sister said, pinning him with a Look, one that was only slightly less effective than the ones their mother gave. “Ellaria seems to be a wonderful woman, Oberyn. Don’t take your frustrations out on her.”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I won’t. This isn’t her fault.”

“None of it is anyone’s fault. And this is something so many people would wish for.”

“Do you?”

That brought Elia up short, and a frown crossed her face. “…I do not know. It would mean that I could be with Ashara without any reservations, but… I want children of my own. And I know that soulmates do not preclude you from having sex with others, but… that’s not something I can see myself doing.”

She shook her head. “My opinion does not matter, however. What matters is the name on your wrist, and the fact that you two shall meet very shortly.”

“I know.”

Oberyn didn’t say anything more. His sister had already heard his issues before, when this first happened.

Elia simply gave him a soft smile and put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. Tío Lewyn told you everything he could, and if you and Ellaria are even a fraction like he and Tía Sylvia are, you will have a wonderful life.”

He sighed. “I hope.”

“She’ll be here soon. She said that she simply wished to get changed out of her riding clothes.”

“Then why are you here?”

“To keep you from moping too hard, of course!”

With that, his older sister left the room without another word.

Oberyn simply rolled his eyes and reached for one of the berries conveniently placed on a table near him and popped it in his mouth.

His sister was at least correct about one thing. He only had to wait another five minutes for the women he was to marry to arrive.

Elia wasn’t correct about Ellaria being beautiful. Oh she was, but beautiful did not seem to be a strong enough word for her.

She wore a simple, dark yellow kaftan, one with simple lines of dark orange embroidery running down the low collar that gave a wonderful view of her cleavage, and one that was loose but still gave a nice indication of her curves, where the colors very nicely complimented her richly tanned skin.

(It was only later that it occurred to him that she probably chose this outfit on purpose. It was not formal at all, but it was still extremely flattering.)

Her very curly, waist length, black hair was left unbound and free to tumble over her back and shoulders, and he wanted to run his hands through it right then and there.

Perhaps her face wasn’t classically beautiful as others were, but to him it was- and he was positive that he didn’t just think that because of whatever connection he felt towards her. Maybe her features were slightly harsher than some would prefer, but they were very pleasing on her.

And even apart from her physical attributes, it was the way she carried herself that truly made one look at her, for she stood so proudly, as if she knew her worth and none could tear her down, no matter what they said to her.

The two of them stared at each other for who knows how long, taking each other in and neither knowing how to break the silence.

Finally Ellaria burst out, “You know, you would look very attractive with a moustache.”

Oberyn blinked, a hand unconsciously coming up to touch his face. “Truly? I’ve been shaving because I have seen far too many fools with pathetic facial hair.”

She laughed, a wonderful sound he hoped to hear more of. “That is a worry, but one I feel that you do not ever need to acknowledge.”

“I will keep that in mind,” he grinned. Both his father and his uncle wore facial hair well, so she was likely right on that, and he should be past the age where it grows in weird.

Silence fell again after she sat on the couch opposite him.

This was pathetic. He usually didn’t have this much trouble talking to someone. And this was someone he would spend the rest of his life with in some capacity or another. He had to figure out how to talk to her.

But he didn’t know where to start.

Well. His mother always told him to be honest with family, and she was usually blunt with what she said around them.

“I have no idea what to do in this situation.”

Thankfully, Ellaria gave him a wry smile and seemed to appreciate him being honest. “Neither do I. This is not something I expected, to be soulmarked to a prince. Or to catch one’s eye even without a soulmark.”

Oberyn couldn’t stop an incredulous look from crossing his face if he tried. “Really?”

She just gave him a confused look, so he shook his head and changed the subject. “I’ve never been in a relationship more serious than a night of fun. I have no idea how to do this… and especially when it’s not of my own choice.”

Ellaria gave him a sad smile. “Neither do I. But we can figure it out together.”

Before he could reply to that, she leaned forward, a serious look crossing her face. “I do have one thing I must insist on now, before anything else, however.”

“What is it?”

“Speak to me. Do not leave anything hanging between us. I do not care what it is you are keeping from me, simply tell me. I refuse to let what happened to my parents happen to us.”

Oberyn blinked. That wasn’t what he expected. “I swear to you that I will,” he promised, suddenly curious about what happened between her parents but figuring that it would be best to leave that until they knew each other better.

Ellaria smiled at him, and Mother Rhoyne was it a beautiful smile. “Tell me, do you have any pet snakes? There are several around the Hellholt that I will miss giving treats to, and I was wondering if they had any cousins here in Sunspear for me to love.”

It was at this moment that Oberyn realized he was doomed, for Mother Rhoyne definitely knew what she was doing when she marked them.

He couldn’t find it in himself to care one single bit.

**Author's Note:**

> I blame fanart for making me imagine Ellaria having pet snakes. It is a thing now and I refuse to not imagine it.
> 
> I kind of want to see Lady Amira meet Olenna Tyrell because that would be a snark fest and it would be beautiful.
> 
> So, what happened with the Yronwoods this time? You'll find out eventually! >:3 I will say that Oberyn, despite the rumors, was not at fault for his death. He wasn't unofficially exiled either, though he did spend a few months with family in Braavos until things calmed down.
> 
> Also, what happened between Ellaria's parents? You'll find that out too!  
> By the way, Ellaria is technically still a bastard, but the soulmark immediately legitimized her.
> 
> If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me here or at sunontherhoyne on tumblr!


End file.
